Why did Google stop doing April Fools' jokes starting in 2020?

Google stopped its April Fools’ jokes in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, as the outbreak spread globally, Google canceled its centralized April Fools’ plans. The company said it was acting out of respect for people fighting the pandemic and encouraged employees to focus on helping with relief efforts instead. A playful corporate tradition was considered inappropriate while illness, disruption and uncertainty dominated daily life.

The decision also reflected the risk of confusion. During a public-health emergency, fabricated announcements can be mistaken for real information, especially when they appear on a major technology company’s official channels. Google was simultaneously working to surface authoritative coronavirus information and limit misleading content.

The cancellation was not caused by a redesign, technical outage or antitrust case. Google also skipped its usual April Fools’ activity in 2021, again citing the continuing challenges of the pandemic. Thus, 2020 marks the year Google first paused its long-running companywide tradition for this reason.